


Heart of the Forest

by MightyNarwhal101



Category: Camp Camp, Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: AU, Dragon AU, Gen, MomGwen, dadvid
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-06
Updated: 2018-09-16
Packaged: 2019-06-22 22:48:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15592485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MightyNarwhal101/pseuds/MightyNarwhal101
Summary: A small AU I wanted to bring to life, the basic premise is DragonDavid adopts human Max and the adventures they go through, I hope you like it!All mentioned ships/ characters will come later on, this will have many chapters if it is well received





	1. Prologue

_Far away in a quiet town, the people lived in peace. Creatures big and small, ranging from the smallest of pixies to the largest of orcs passed by, with tales of their adventures and travels of the things they’ve seen or the people they’ve met. It was a peaceful place with little to no strife, the only real threat that came to the two was the dragon that lived in the great woods surrounding the town. The dragon didn’t bother the people, it often stayed deep in the heart of the forest and rarely seen. Some speculated it was just a story parents would tell their children to keep them from wondering too far into the woods. Others say that the dragon is very real, with deep green eyes that stare into one’s soul, dark red scales on its head with dark green scales on its body to blend seamlessly into the trees and bushes. Its teeth were as sharp as the most refined iron sword, its scales stronger than any armor. The dragon gained the name, “Spirit of the Forest” as it always seemed to know when someone was in the woods._

_There were no known attacks made from the dragon, it often leaved humans alone, even times it would bring gold from its hoard to show peace, but that wasn’t enough for some citizens._  
“It’s mocking us!”  
“It won’t stay docile forever!”  
“All dragons are the same!”  
“they’re all monsters!”  
“the sooner its dead, the safer we’ll all be!”

_With a bounty on its head, many adventurers who pass by attempt to slay the beast, only to return unsuccessful. Everyone always comes back, at most with a few scratches and always having those big green eyes in the shadows, watching them return.  
Some describe the encounter as a game. The dragon hides around, letting out happy chirps as the humans came closer, he’d them jump out and attempt to play with them like a cat would a mouse. As morbid as that description would be, the worse the dragon has done was scratch or play to rough with the human and fly up to the trees as if afraid. With the harmless interaction, the self-proclaimed “heroes” never had the heart to slay the friendly beast._

_One night, the moon was full and the sounds of cicadas and the ribbits of frogs filled the woods, whispers of wisps and dryads in the treetops as the Dragon laid in his den, relaxing to the gentle sounds around him. This was the life, though it was awfully lonely, sure the other so called ‘monsters’ was nice company, but it didn’t feel like it was enough. With a sad sigh, he closed his eyes to sleep for the night. His slumber was soon interrupted by the sound of crying, sure there are creatures who mimic the sound of a child’s cry to lure humans, but this. This was from a real human child. Concerned and curious, the dragon arose from his sleep and began to head towards the source of the crying. It didn’t take him too long and the sight that was before him nearly broke his heart. He found his way to a worn dirt path where a turned over carriage was on fire. The smell of smoke and blood filled his nose as he came closer to the wreckage. Blood splattered onto the carriage as well as bags were ripped open with its contents scattered around. This had to be a robbery of some sort, and it ended poorly for the victim. The dragon found the source of crying inside the carriage, he clawed at it to find a woman clutching onto a bundled blanket. She was heavily wounded with stab wounds on her body and the crying growing louder from the bundle._

_Weakly, the woman looked up to the dragon, her bright teal eyes pleaded with the beast as she slowly lifted the small bundle to show it was a baby. Black curly hair and tanned skin that matched well with the mother, only her hair was longer and pulled back into a braid. The dragon gently bowed his head in understanding, taking the delicate bundle into his jaws before turning away. He knew she couldn’t be saved, the life was fleeting from her eyes as she wordlessly handed over her baby. With the precious cargo in his jaw, he was about to return to the woods when angry shouting caught his attention_  
“It’s the Dragon!” Someone gasped  
“Look what it’s done!” another screamed in horror in the scene before them.  
It looked very bad, scorch marks and blood on the road and an infant in his jaws, and a dead woman in a broken carriage. Unable to explain himself, he took flight right away, hoping he could lose the people. And he did.


	2. birthday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> birthday boy starts us off

Ten years passed by since that fateful day, the dragon- now going by David, raised the little boy as best as he could, with some help from the other creatures. Dryads played with the child, a witch offered David supplies in exchange for his scales, teeth and most importantly blood; to which he didn’t want to know what she’d use them for, but it wasn’t a painful process, he loses teeth all the time as well as scales, blood always comes back anyway, though that one was a little painful to give, it was worth it in David’s eyes. He named the child, Max and taught him as much as he could, with help along the day. David even learned from the Witch how to change form, Dragons were magical beings, after all, some stronger than others. It took a while for David to get used to his new form, he looked mostly human, his amber red hair naturally swooped up, light-coloured skin that matched his usual underbelly, ocean green eyes that still had a slit iris. His arms and legs were still scaled, stopping at where the limb connects to the body. Some other appendages remained as well, such as his tail, horns and wings, and while he continues to attempt to hide those to appear like a normal human, the most he could master are his wings that he can conceal and bring out at will.  
Today was a special day. It’s Max’s birthday, or rather the day David had received him. Many of the forest’s residents gathered to give gifts to the young boy, either it is toys, clothes or weapons- to which David slyly concealed for now. While David very much appreciated the help of his “friends”, even he wasn’t blind to notice how his little boy began to have that far away daze in his eyes every time a human found their way nearby their home. Every time David needed to hide Max away if a human came to fight the dragon. It was clear now that this “Docile” dragon became aggressive if anyone dared to come too close to his den in fear the humans will steal his most precious treasure away. His son that he will fight claw and tooth for.

As the others left, David helped Max sort through his gifts and put them away neatly when the most dreaded request was asked.  
“… Dad, I want to go into town” The child asked suddenly.  
David’s scales stood on end as he turned into his human form to better communicate with his son.  
“W-Why do you need to go into town for, Max? We have everything we could ever want! Nice people, quiet and calm spots, all the free food we could ever want! Its perfect!” he smiled a toothy grin.  
Max looked unconvinced, “Its just… I want to meet other humans, the nice ones! Not the ones who always want to kill you”  
David’s heart sank, he really wished he could have kept that truth from reaching his ears. With a sigh, he scooped up his boy and headed to his hoard that consisted of gold, jewels and gems. Hey, he like many dragons had a fondness for shiny things. Sitting down, David gathered his thoughts.  
“Max… you know the reason why we can’t go into town… There are bad people everywhere, and I can’t go with you to keep you safe… what if someone takes you away? Or they use you?” David tried to explain again, but Max wasn’t having it  
“Come on Dad, I think I know how to handle myself, why can’t you just trust me?” Max huffed as he crossed his arms. 

David sighed and hugged him tightly. Max was right, the kid was sharp as a tack with a good sense of character, plus he knows basic self-defence from the many play fighting he’s had with goblins. As much as David wanted to admit, Max can take care of himself in the town, of course, he isn’t ready to let him move out, but baby steps.  
With a heavy sigh, David looked at his son and combed back his hair with his claws  
“Oh… alright, you can go into town” He smiled softly as Max grinned and jumped to his feet.  
“but! On one condition” David continued, killing the excitement on Max’s face.  
David stood up, grabbed a small empty sake and filled it with gold coins before kneeling down before the boy  
“Max, I want you home no later than dusk, do you understand? I am giving you my trust… I know you’ll be safe, but for my own sake, please come back unscathed, alright?” He smiled, handing over the gold pouch. 

Excited, Max went to change into some nicer clothes before heading out. He knew the woods so well, he could navigate with his eyes closed, it didn’t take long before he found the path and headed straight to town.


	3. Author's note

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> got some news

{Hey everyone.  
Sooooo yeah it has been about a month or so since the last update.  
I am REALLY sorry about that and thank you for your patience.  
My excuse: COLLEGE! Yeah, I started up school again and was pretty much getting back into a routine of waking up, going to school, doing homework, etc etc etc.  
But! This does not mean "Heart of the Forest" will come to an end, heck even **_I_ ** can't wait to see how this story goes.  
I've been typing away, getting feedback from friends and even help if I get stuck.   
So you'll have to wait just a little longer so I can make chapters and have a set upload schedule.  
I will promise chapter 3 by September 14th (this Friday).  
And I hope that will be the upload schedule. (every Friday or every other Friday, we'll see)

I enjoy reading your comments as it encourages me to keep writing to know you guys like what you see. 

I'll see you Friday!

:)

\- Narwhal }


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the late upload, internet troubles

 

Following the worn dirt path, Max found himself at the entrance of the town. Already he could see the rush and bustle of the people as they were going on about their day, paying no mind to the new boy. Max was unfazed and headed straight in, much looking forward to seeing what type of things the town had to offer. He did have plenty of gold to spend, who knows what he could get. Passing by humans and dwarfs, occasional orcs wasn’t very new, he’s seen these people all the time when they went to see his dad, some he even recognized from yesterday, telling lies of his encounter of the infamous “beast”. While he wanted to step in, he decided not to, it’ll lead to unnecessary trouble that he didn’t need to deal with. Heading closer and closer to what he assumed to be the town centre, a girl in pigtails trampled him as she ran from the local brothel.  
“Hey watch it!” Max snapped, glaring up at the girl who didn’t realize she had even run over a person  
“Whoops! Haha, sorry!” She laughed, pulling him up. With teal green hair tied back in fluffy pigtails, bright pink eyes and a face covered in dirt and bandages, she greeted Max with a smile.  
“Watch where you’re going next time!” Max huffed, only to be met with a hand  
“I’m Nikki! Who are you? I’ve never seen you around before. Are you new? Where do you live? Are you an adventurer?!” Nikki grinned.   
Max growled in annoyance as he turned and walked away from the girl- who in turn followed at his heels.   
“Hey, where are you going? Mom said to make some new friends today and that is you, mister! So, what’s your name kid?” Nikki rambled, keeping up with ease.  
“… Max” Max finally huffed, this was more annoying than he thought, sure humans weren’t the best, but even the kids are a bother too?   
“Nice to meet you! Where are you from?” She asked on, looking him up and down. His clothes were nothing like she’s seen before, a dark blue hooded cape over a dark green shirt. His pants were normal tanned cotton pants and leather boots. A strange colour combination.   


“Ugh! Look, Nikki was it?” Max growled, facing her with a scowl “leave me alone, I don’t have time to listen to some annoying human’s rambling!”   
Nikki paused and looked rather upset “oh…” she looked down, her pink eyes almost on the verge of tears. Max panicked for a moment, _crap she’s going to cry…  
_ “for fuck’s sake, fine! You can hang out with me” Max huffed, human crying was even worse. Nikki immediately beamed as any trace of sadness went away “Great! Let’s go!” She cheered, grabbing his arm and pulling him deeper into the town. Weaving through crowds of people and produce carts, she leads them to the town’s Tavern where a small group of kids were waiting.

“Hey, guys! Sorry, I’m late, I made a new friend!” Nikki grinned, pulling Max in front of her. Max scowled at the group before him, kids of all sizes… and even a few different species. There was a dark Elf with round glasses, what had to a siren, indicated by her coloured hair, a pale dwarf with black hair and blue eyes, and the rest looked to be human, but he could be wrong.   
“This is Max! Say hi new kid!” Nikki gave him one more shove, so he could be closer to the group of kids.

Max already didn’t want to be here, he was a little anxious around humans, they brought and caused troubled for him and his dad, and frankly, some of these kid’s smiles were a little to wide for his liking. “uh… yeah no,” Max stated flatly. Before anyone could introduce themselves, he already began to walk away, mostly following something that smelled _delicious_. While he usually ate a mix of all kinds of wild animals, from deer to bears to fish, never has he smelled something so good!   
Well David did try his best, he learned how to cook from the witch and the who act of cleaning, cutting, deboning was so foreign, he never learned how to season anything as the metallic tang of blood served as a flavour.


End file.
